Organization and Action Plan

Part One: Developing Your Action Plan


1. The name of your organization:
D³ [Digital Divide Diminution]

2. Your specific topic:
Donating computers and collected secondhand devices to shelter homes and orphanages and providing the education to fully use it to their benefit.

3. The purpose- Why are you doing this action?
To try and lessen the gap of the digital divide by donating. We are also donating SECONDHAND items, which helps minimize the amount of consumption, and rising prices on the technology market. We are also believe that every action taken to try and help contributes, though the effect might not solve the issue completely.

4. The message- Why should people be informed about this issue?
The issue of the digital divide is crucial to save and preserve the importance of education in our world. Illiterate poor people or those without education or knowledge on how to use a computer would most likely end up wasting their time playing video games or watching violent cartoons. It distinguishes the kinds of benefits that wealthy people and poor people can receive from the internet and technology. The digital divide also ties in with poverty, where the education available online could help lead them out of a life of poverty, to being employed and financially stable. For anyone to benefit from the internet or technology, they require understanding of the websites and navigation of the computer, that is why when illiterate, it's hard for poor people to gain the same benefit. In some ways, that actually contributes to poverty, while computers aren't exactly cheap, and if not used to the full extent, it is not only a waste of money, but could also have a negative effect. Technology can also help these people learn to do things themselves. For example, they could save a lot of money on school tuition fees by taking online courses, or self teaching through math or history websites. Search engines also provide unlimited amounts of information on virtually any topic, but without the knowledge of how to use such items, the benefit is impossible to gain.


5. A goal- make sure this is a project that can be done and hopefully continued
Our goal is to be able to reach out to people who are more poor and unable to afford a proper education, to help them understand how to use computers to their benefit. We want them to have the full extent of the education the internet can offer them which will hopefully lead them to a life out of poverty. We want to help them understand, and donate a computer to certain areas, along with lessons on how to use it. By donating and collecting secondhand devices and appliances, we also lessen the gap between people who can and cannot afford technology.

6. A short-term plan for achieving your goal (keep it simple and don’t be too ambitious- again make sure you CAN actually do this)
-Create posters for advertising donation and cause
-Contact River of Hearts
-Hold donations for secondhand devices/appliances (we are thinking people will donate their OWN devices)
-Donate to River of Hearts for delivery to set locations
-Ask Dr. Rosen/Roukema for permission to hold donations
-Donate computer to Home Sweet Home and teach them how to use the computer
-Make a wiki with links to how-to sites on how to use a computer, and create an educational

7. A long-term plan for achieving your goal
-Continue to collect secondhand devices and appliances possibly annual or at specific times
-Eventually reach out to other organizations and places in need (with our donated goods)
-Keep raising funds to donate computers
-Helping people understand how to use the computer more efficiently or to their benefit.
-Lessen the gap of the digital divide!

8. Resources needed for this action plan
-Contacting River of Hearts people, (visit to community center shanghai)
-Permission to hold donation boxes out from Dr. Rosen/Roukema
-Place to purchase the computer

9. Division of responsibilities- who will do what?
Remy - Contact River of Hearts via. Email and then personally, ask about donation routes and becoming involved (by donating secondhand devices)
Ariel & Remy - Visit River of Hearts and Home Sweet Home (after contact, IF we donate to this location/shelter home)
Ariel - Create donation boxes, figure out donation dates and times
Remy - Ask Dr. Rosen/Roukema for permission to do so
Remy & Ariel - Collect donation boxes to bring to River of Hearts
Remy & Ariel will work on the power point together (I'm not sure if this question concerns the PPT work or the action plan work.. so i put both)
Remy - Find Turkish website to use for the power point activity
Remy - put together links on how to use the computer, write out a plan
Remy & Ariel - donate a computer to Home Sweet Home and have an educational how-to use the computer wiki to teach them.

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